'Observe the Moon Night' to Light Up Skywatchers on Saturday

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This weekend, the nearly full moon will to take center stage
Saturday night for skywatchers around the world.

Amateur astronomers and casual stargazers are gearing up for the
second annual International Observe the Moon Night on Saturday
(Oct. 8), in what promises to be a fun and stimulating public
event, organizers say.

NASA and lunar enthusiasts the world over are set to celebrate
Earth's natural satellite tomorrow in a worldwide event designed
to engage people in lunar science and education. Space
enthusiasts and the general public are invited to gather
together, look up, and learn more about the enchanting moon.

International Observe the Moon Night got its start after two
earlier NASA celebrations that aimed to spark interest and
enthusiasm about Earth's nearest neighbor in the sky. [ Photos:
Harvest Moon of 2011 ]

The full moon is expected to peak on Oct. 12, but it will be the
smallest and most distant full moon of the year. This year's
International Observe the Moon Night also coincides with the peak
of the Draconid meteor shower, which is expected to deliver
hundreds of "shooting stars" per hour. But, the meteor shower's
peak could be largely invisible to skywatchers, since it occurs
during daylight hours in North America, and elsewhere, the nearly
full moon will likely outshine the pretty light show.

Several NASA centers, such as the Ames Research Center in
Mountain View, Calif., Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Md., and the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.,
will host public events tomorrow night.

The event organizers include scientists, educators and moon buffs
from government, non-profit organizations and businesses across
the U.S. and the world.

"We believe in the inspirational power of the moon — a celestial
body that has influenced human lives since the dawn of time," the
event's website reads. "Through International Observe the Moon
Night, we hope [to] instill in the public a sense of wonderment
and curiosity about our moon."

Last year, there were 278 moon-watching events in more than 40
countries, including China, Germany and Egypt.

NASA has one spacecraft circling the moon, a pair of small
spacecraft that recently entered into the moon's orbit, and a
pair of twin probes that are expected to arrive at the moon by
New Year's Day.

The unmanned
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling the moon since
June 2009. The car-size spacecraft recently snapped
images of three Apollo landing sites that revealed new
details about the regions on the moon that were visited by
humans. The $504 million probe is currently on an extended
mission through at least September 2012.

The two small Artemis probes, which stand for Acceleration,
Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s
Interaction with the Sun, began their lunar orbit journey over a
year and a half ago. This summer, both probes entered into lunar
orbit, where they will study the moon's interior and surface
composition.

Last month, NASA successfully launched two identical spacecraft
on a mission to unlock mysteries of the moon that are hidden
beneath its surface. The $496 million
Grail mission (short for Gravity Recovery And Interior
Laboratory) will closely study the interior of the moon, from
crust to core, and will map the moon's gravitational field in
unprecedented detail.

To learn about any International Observe the Moon Night
activities in your area, check out the event's website.

Editor's note: If you attend an event for International Observe
the Moon Night and snap amazing photos of the moon, and would
like to share them with SPACE.com for a possible story
or gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at:
tmalik@space.com.

You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on
Twitter@denisechow.
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